The jig is up; they have finally exposed the Pittsburgh Steelers as failures after another embarrassing response to the Renegade anthem.
For those living under a rock, the Steelers play the song during pivotal moments of a game to get their fans and team hyped up. It has been starting to falter in recent years, as opposing teams have found ways to overcome that environment and win games.
A recent article by The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar shows the unfavored nature that opposing teams have started to gain against the Renegade experience. Seattle Seahawk's star defensive player, Leonard Williams, was not worried at all; in fact, their team prepared to use that weapon against the Steelers.
Leonard explained to Dugar,
“They play really tight close games, and in those close games, they play that song to get their team going. With us knowing that, we played that song a few times in practice, and every time we played it, we got hype. And it showed up again."
In the Steelers' Week 2 clash with the Seahawks, they fell flat when Renegade played. It was a sloppy game by Pittsburgh, and after witnessing Seattle thrive following the song played, the experience only further deteriorated. It has become a mockery after their latest in-season gaffe. If they can't win after the song, then it is a pointless moment in the game.
Pittsburgh Steelers "renegade" anthem is starting to flop early in the season
Pride is one thing that the Steelers didn't show enough of during their Week 2 contest with Seattle. They didn't have enough juice, and it showed late in the game. They put themselves into a losing category with self-inflicted wounds that they couldn't overcome. Now the Renegade song continues to be tarnished, and fans should be concerned about when it happens next time.
“That’s our song,” Williams told Dugar with a smile.
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Seattle had most of their sideline full of energy when the Renegade song started to play. It’s meant to energize Pittsburgh to finish strong and push toward victory. The opposite happened, and the entire moment backfired. The Seahawks went on a backbreaking touchdown drive, and the entire Seattle roster got the energy boost, not the Steelers.
Leonard mocked the hostile environment,
“I love seeing our sideline get electric like that, and looking at their sideline, and they just didn’t have the juice. It was amazing.”
Not only did the bench of the Seahawks openly favor the song choice, but they were the only players on the field who fed off of it. The Steelers had no response for Seattle's offense on the impending drive, which was problematic enough. Pittsburgh would go on to lose the game 31-17, in a battle that saw the home team struggle to do anything right in the second half.
The Renegade anthem is still fun to witness for fans, but it has seemingly become a cursed situation. If the team fails to win a football game, the song only becomes a form of mockery by the opposition. Seattle certainly used that song against Pittsburgh, and the team showed no fight. It was unsettling to watch the song’s meaning slowly fade before our eyes.